ABSTRACT
International news offers us fresh examples of displacement every day. In
2007, for example, a regional refugee crisis spread rapidly across Central
Africa involving the mass exodus of refugees from the Darfur region of
Western Sudan into Chad, the Central African Republic, and Cameroon.
In the Middle East, one of the largest mass displacements of the last half
century was affecting Iraq and its neighbors. By mid-2007, over 2.2 mil-
lion Iraqis had fled war and civil conflict, mainly to Jordan and Syria but
also to other countries in the region while 2 million Iraqis were internally displaced. In addition to these well-publicized refugee emergencies, mil-
lions more people fled their homes in search of security and safety. Many
entered refugee camps or lived on the margins of overcrowded cities in
the developing world. Many will remain in these conditions for many
years and even decades, trapped in protracted refugee situations.
